Bracket Watch: Ole Miss women's team moves up as NCAA Tournament light gets dim for the men
A month ago both Ole Miss basketball teams looked to be heading towards history in March and playing in the NCAA Tournament in the same year for the first time. Instead, one team’s postseason elevator is going up and the other is dropping at a rapid pace.
Monday saw the Ole Miss women’s team take care of business in Columbia, Missouri, beating the Tigers 66-45 to notch its 20th win of the season for a third straight year. The victory also ensured the Rebels (20-7, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) secure a double-bye in next month’s SEC Tournament with their fourth straight conference win.
There is more history to be had for sixth year head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin and Ole Miss. No Rebels team has won 12 SEC games in the regular season. If the Rebels beat Kentucky in Lexington on Thursday and then Arkansas in Sunday’s regular season finale that will become a reality.
“I don’t know that we needed to get fired up,” McCuin said after Monday’s win. “For us, we’re on a mission. We knew that tonight if we win we would clinch a double-bye. …Now that we have that, we’re still chasing. Ole Miss hasn’t won 12 games in conference play and that’s history. So, that’s what we’re chasing.”
With the strong close to the season Ole Miss is moving up in the latest NCAA Tournament projections. ESPN’s Charlie Creme bumped the Rebels up to a 7-Seed, keeping them in the Portland 4 Region but moving them to the Los Angeles quadrant with 2-Seed Southern California.
The Ole Miss men’s team is seeing the opposite movement when it comes to its NCAA Tournament hopes.
Saturday’s loss to South Carolina was the Rebels fourth in the last five games. The light is getting dimmer by the game when it comes to reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years.
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Wednesday’s game against No. 14 Alabama could be the final nail in the proverbial March Madness coffin for Ole Miss (19-8, 6-8 SEC), if it has not been shut already.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi continues to slide the Rebels further down his ‘Bracketology.’ In Tuesday’s latest update they are the second team of the Next Four Out group, essentially being the sixth team out of the Field of 68.
Jerry Palm still has them in the field, projecting them in the First Four and playing against Gonzaga for the right to be the 11-Seed in the Midwest Region. A win would put them in Omaha for a first-round meeting with 6-Seed Colorado State.
Metrics continue to hurt Ole Miss which now has a NET ranking of 74 heading into Wednesday’s game against the Crimson Tide. Things are looking more and more likely it needs to run the table through its final four games and next month’s SEC Tournament.
